Maccabags!

Easy Makings

Another scarf finished - this one for a friend of my daughter. Knit with Rowan All Seasons Cotton - which is lovely to work with:

Close up of the pattern - very easy to do and the stitch pattern is reversible. For some reason I have suddenly taken against scarves that have a wrong side.

I like this pattern so much that I have nearly finished another one - this one for ... me!  It is made from Rowan Classic Bamboo. It is so soft - I keep putting it 'round my neck just to feel the softness of it. The stitch pattern makes it very warm. I am not enjoying knitting with this yarn much - it is very prone to splitting.

Also found an easy bag to make in this Craft Stylish magazine.

 

Although, the pattern listed incorrect measurements for the "waistband" which forms the top of the bag. Of course I thought it was probably me being wrong, but I checked and re-checked and they are just - WRONG! Easy enough to fix, but I was a little glad that I stopped to think before I cut, because I had to be a little bit inventive to get the lining and the waistband out of the amount of white fabric that I had - there would have had to have been a Plan B if I had cut before I  found the error.

Next week - the making of Christmas gifts begins in earnest!

A Small Bags, Knitty Weekend

Don't you love the Sunday when we "fall back" with the time? Most Sundays speed up (I swear) so that they can turn into Mondays - but the Sunday of the time change seems like such a lovely long day. Much longer than just an extra hour, somehow. I love it. Yes, tomorrow morning will be extra dark when its wakey-wakey-go-to-work time, but I'll deal with that then - this is now!

I've been sewing:

 

Red bags: the lining in the fold-over pouch is the same red as the binding and button. The little pouch has one of those squeezy metal clasps sewn into it, makes an O when opened and its lining is also the red/black fabric.

Blue bags: these are Easy Peasy Pouches - see tutorial here.

A grey bag; I like the yellow with the grey and I really like this fabric, which I got here. Better view of the yellow fabric in the next photo:

And finally - a specs case.  Super easy - super fast - I think I will do a tutorial on this one.

I've also been knitting:

I have been going crazy with the scarves - this is my 4th one, and nary a one is going to be going around my neck - they're all for keeping other people warm! This one is made with Regia 6-ply sock yarn - this bright colour combination has the very inventive name of "5404" - the marketing team was working overtime to come up with that one! And anyway, in this case, it is Regia 6-ply scarf yarn. 

Here it is closer up. These photos do not pick out the pattern of stitches very well - it is actually done in a honeycomb rib, and every 10th row has eyelets. In the photo the eyelets are there, but they just make it look like I am a messy knitter. You can kind of see them along the purple row quite near the centre of the photo. They do look nice in real life!

The Pattern is really easy:

Cast on enough stitches to produce the width you want but make sure the total number is divisible by 3. I cast on 48 stitches, using 4mm needles.

Odd rows: K1, P1 rib.

Even rows: knit to end.

Every 10th row (every 5th knit row) K3, *K1, Yarn Over, K2 together - repeat from * to last 3 stitches, K3.

This scarf is not reversible - but the "wrong side" looks ok done in this rib/eyelet combo.

 

The swatch below is for the next scarf; I like this stitch because it is completely reversible - the back side looks exactly like the front.  It is a multiple of 10 stitches worked over 10 rows. See below the photo for how-to make this stitch pattern.

This stitch pattern is done this way. I don't know if it has a name other than swirly reversible scarf stitch. It looks a bit Art-deco. (I have cast on 20 stitches and worked 20 rows for this swatch).

Row 1: K5, P5

Row 2: K4, P1, K1, P4

Row 3: K3, P2, K2, P3

Row 4: K2, P3, K3, P2 

Row 5: K1, P4, K4, P1

Row 6: P5, K5

Row 7: K1, P4, K4, P1

Row 8: K2, P3, K3, P2 

Row 9: K3, P2, K2, P3

Row 10: K4, P1, K1, P4

Gotta go enjoy this lovely loooooooonnnnnggg Sunday. Bye for now!  ;o)

Knitting pattern: Faux-Lace Scarf (Quite Faux)

I have been MIA in the blogging space for the past two weeks and I have missed my happy, crafty little world. 

What have I been doing?

• knitting - see below
• working - things pile up when you are gone on holiday for over 2 weeks
• updating holiday photos
• catching up on missed posts from all of my favorites
• catching up on things recorded on the V+ box
• watching the goings on during the US presidential debate with mouth agog*
• wondering if I will have any retirement money
• trying to teach myself to crochet  (so far so messy! - but getting there slowly)

* I always said that I would make no political comment on my blog, but I have to say that I am breaking that self-vow. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT ANYONE  WOULD VOTE FOR THAT WOMAN AND PUT HER NEXT IN LINE TO LEAD A NATION WHICH HAS MAJOR IMPACT WORLD-WIDE. I think that makes me an Obama-mama. A seriously agitated Obama-mama. However, being Canadian and not 'Merican, I can but watch. Come on big bro to the south - get it together!

So - having got that off my chest, let's get on to the knitting! I decided I would like to knit a scarf - it's for my daughter and I wanted it to be like her: warm, but not heavy/thick. And I wanted it to be quick to knit and so I discounted several pretty, but intricate and time-consuming lace patterns. Also, I like scarfs with no "wrong side". So I made up my own pattern. This does knit up very quickly - it's kind of lacy, it's reversible, and it's beginner-easy.

Here's how:

Yarn - 200 g of DK (about 295 yards/ 300 metres)- mine is Stylecraft Special which knits with 4mm/US6 needles to about 30 stitches and 22 rows to 10cm (4 in), but near enough will do.

Needles - 4mm/US 6

Cast on 45 stitches (or your choice, just make the number of stitches divisible by 3.

First 4 rows: knit.

Row 5: K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3.

Row 6: K3, *K1, YO, Slip 1 knit-wise, K1, PSSO. Repeat from * to last 3 stitches, K3.

Row 7, 9 and 11 :  K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3.

Row 8, 10 and 12: Knit.

Row 13 : Knit (this reverses the pattern so the knit rows are on the "back" side - this will happen every time you come to a "Row 13" and is what makes the scarf have no wrong side).

Repeat rows 5 through 13 until the scarf  is as long as you want - I am making mine about 6 feet. Just remember to leave enough yarn to knit 4 last rows and cast off knit-wise.

Also made this weekend: 

  2 kids bags and 1 Easy-Peasy Bag for the upcoming craft table

And finally -

my lovely, but sleepy, Dylan!

Hey, hey The Scarf is Done!

First, The Scarf

 

"Hey, Hey the scarf is done" (sung to the Wizard of Oz tune of "Hey, hey the witch is dead ..."). I am of mixed emotions today - pleased because after going away from knitting for so many years, I am back and enjoying it , and have actually finished something that was harder than I thought it was going to be - but feeling a little at loose ends, too (is there a pun there?) because now I have nothing to knit. Sort of like when you want to get to the end of a novel to see what happens, and then after you do, you miss all the characters you had in your life for awhile.

The photos don't do this lovely ribbon yarn justice - I just can't seem to capture the shimmer which is there in real life - and I have not caught all of the gorgeous colours that are in the variegated ribbon that is woven into the blue.

Second, the Prototype Bunny

When my kids were little, I made them baby bunny balls - out of a pattern from some women's magazine, I think. The pattern is long gone, but as I was making these bags for little peeps, I thought of the BBB, and decided I would have a go at making one. Here's the prototype - which is not quite right.

This is so near, but there is something a little wrong with the shape - I need to have a play with the pattern pieces and the placement of the feet to see if I can't get it the way I want it. After that I think I will do a tutorial on making these. Is it my imagination, or does this little bunny look a little out of sorts? Maybe she is not too happy at being called a prototype?

And lastly, the Vacation

To borrow a phrase from Jo- 9 more sleeps before we go!  Yipee!! 

Kids Bags 'r Us

The Fam came to dinner last night and a good time was had by all - so I celebrated this morning by sleeping in. Well, that is what the 3rd day of a three-day weekend is for, I feel. Now, since I generally get up at about 6 during the work week, "sleeping in" involved staying in bed until 8. Pretty daring, huh? I had cleaned up the dinner party debris before going to bed last night, so after a leisurely tea and toast, I decided to finish off my sewing WIP - and now the kids' bags are complete. The photo does not show the pretty polka-dot lining - it's the same fabric for all and matches the tabs on the sides of the bags. They are small-ish - just right for little hands.

And the ribbon scarf is now 90 cm long! Should be able to finish it during the week, too - can't wait to see it after the contrasting ribbon is woven in.

Want to see some kick-ass Wellies and an excellent tutorial on How to Procrastinate? Look here (good blog, too).

K-WIP/S-WIP* 'n Olympics

*Knit-WIP and Sew-WIP

Finally I have stopped ripping out  and have decided to move forward with this ribbon scarf. Took a little while longer than I anticipated to get back into this knitting thing. See this post for the opening moves.

 

Here it is - all 72 cm. of it - almost exactly half way there. If you look very closely you can see a white thread running horizontally though it - near the needle. "Necessity is the mother of ..." and all that; knitting with this slippery ribbon means that you can't go back and pick up stitches if you make a mistake. Well, I can't anyway.  Three times I have had to unravel all - right back to the beginning to start all over again; I thought my world would not be a happy place if I made an unrecoverable error after I had knit 60 cm or so!  I came up with the bright idea of threading a piece of string through the stitches on the needle so that the string would act as a holder for the stitches - every 5/6 cm I slide it out and move it up so that a few rows is all that I can lose. Like having a net under the tightrope.

 

I am also sewing today - even though my mind keeps wandering back to the K-WIP. I have to get some kids' bags done by early October for a carft table at my niece's school, and with September pretty much taken up with holiday (YES!), I thought I better get a move on. So here is the S-WIP:

 

 

This collection of cuttings will end up being 4 little bags - I have cut the owl and the turtle out of the same fabric that is peeking out on the far left and have used Bondaweb to put them in place - I will zigzag around them; the horse (maybe zebra?) was a purchased applique so it was iron-and-go. The rectangles with the owl and the zebra will become pockets and the turtles will be appliqued directly onto the front of one of the bags. The pretty dotted fabric is the lining; I was going to make a sun dress out of this but then there was no summer and so there was no sun dress. Not really my colour anyway, but I thought it was so pretty.

 

 

OLYMPICS 2008

I got into Beijing waaaaay late this time - it was the end of the second week before I really started to pay much attention. My favorite person has got to be the little kid Brit diver - Tom Daley. What a pumpkin! So talented and so not into himself. 

  <-----   Tom Daley - Brit sweetie  Olympic diver

The debate was on last evening about whether THE Olympian of these games should be Bolt or Phelps. Now there's a tough one! I agreed with everyone's opinion regardless of which one people were picking.(On the news this morning there were comments about Bolt showboating - what is it about human nature that makes someone, somewhere, have to come up with the negative comment)? Go for it, Mr. Bolt - if you can run faster than anyone else on the planet, and you can make it look exciting - then hey - GO FOR IT, BABY!

 

 

So - off to cut out some interlining - perhaps I will stroke the K-WIP on my way to the interlining stash. ;o)

Just Try Knitting Again

I am so bad at posting this month! A couple of days of holiday, a September vacation to plan, plus the (very) odd ray of sun, and the whole blog thing goes pear-shaped. I am going to do some bag sewing this weekend though, so that should be fodder for posting.

In the meantime, I decided I would knit something. I read Kyoko's great blog, and she had inspired me to pick up the ole needles again. It has been 5 years - maybe more since I knitted a stitch.

Perhaps it would have been a good idea for me to ease myself into this rediscovery of knitting by tackling something small, easy and fast. Oh no. Not me. I found a pattern (can' t be difficult, it is only a scarf) and jumped right in and bought the book it was in (a bit pricey, but I liked another shawl/scarf and one of the hats in the book, too).

 

Kimono Ribbon Woven Scarf

Louisa Harding, The Accessories Collection

And here is the yarn - the blue for the scarf, the variegated for weaving into a lacy ladder created when knitting with the blue. Phaw! Piece of cake, no?

NO!  This ribbon yarn is so, so lovely - the colours are gorgeous and it shimmers and shines, and ....  SLIPS! And because it slips, it is impossible to unpick when I make an error - so three times now I have started - made a mistake and had to pull the whole thing out and start again. The first attempt, I had to begin again after knitting about 4 rows, then the next time was after about 12 rows , and the third time, I had knit about 32 rows. For goodness sake! There are only 25 stitches to get through per row, and the directions are pretty simple:

1st Row: K6, (K2tog, [YO] twice, sl1, K1, psso, K5) twice, K1.

Next row: (K8, P1) twice, K7.

How hard can that be? I know how to read the instructions and I should know how to execute them. But somehow, I am creating an extra stitch (inconsistently) and I CAN'T SEE HOW!!!!!! Using "normal" yarn, I would "undo" until I was on a row where I still hadn't gone wrong and go again. But this lovely ribbon just slithers away from me and won't stay still to be picked up on the needle again. Ai-yi!  I'm determined, though.

if anyone has tried Kimono Ribbon and knows some tricks to working with it - PLEASE let me know. In the meantime, I think a large glass of white wine is in order!